Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Harvest Young: Bound by Fate release!

Blurb:

Half human and half Tah’Narian, Szin doesn’t fit
with either race. His appearance is mainly human, but he’s able to have a
young. Unfortunately, that’s his only Tah’Narian characteristic. He’s smaller
and weaker than other young.

Szin’s eighteenth birthday has passed and time’s running out. He has to stop
his childhood friend, Takeo, from making the worst mistake of his life:
claiming Szin as a mate. Takeo deserves an equal who’s as fierce as he is,
something Szin most certainly is not.

Since before Takeo was born, he’s known Szin was his. Nothing and no one, not
even Szin, is going to stand in the way of claiming his mate. He understands
Szin feels he isn’t good enough, and he’ll do anything to convince Szin otherwise.
Including taking drastic measures to ensure his mate listens.

Takeo is the ultimate blend of human, Tah’Narian, and Onfrevian DNA. He’s pure
predator, and his sights are set on his mate.

Szin stared out the passenger window of his twin’s flyer. Raiden’s fingers
tapped on the console to some wild techno music he had playing. It wasn’t
really something Szin cared for, so he fished his headphones out of the
armrest. Holding the little disk to one ear, he tapped the On button, and it
immediately adhered. He did the same with the other disk, and the feral music
Raiden was listening to was silenced.

Dad had introduced him to what he called classic rock from his days on Earth,
and Szin had taken a liking to it. Already programmed, music started playing
immediately. His thoughts fluttered just like the butterflies in his stomach.
Turning eighteen wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, contrary to popular
belief.

Their birthday had already passed, and they were on their way to the capital
city of Tah’Nar. A large celebration had already been held for them by their
Tah’Narian dabba, Keyno, and their dad, Dale, who had taught both young early
on to call him that from his first language.

A more private party was planned for later. As a gift to themselves, they’d
booked a hotel for an overnight stay and planned to hit the nightclubs and
party hard. Did their parents know what they had planned? Most likely. Dad
didn’t have a problem with their plan, but their dabba had reservations. Dabba finally
gave in to Dad—he usually did. It was a private joke between Szin and
Raiden.

Szin, in particular, had plans for tonight. He was a male on a mission. One way
or the other, he planned to break the bond between him and Takeo before Takeo
made the worst mistake of his life: claiming Szin as a mate. Szin knew he was
running out of time. Over the past month, Takeo had been very aggressive in his
courtship now that he’d celebrated his eighteenth birthday.

As soon as they entered Tah’Nar airspace, they were immediately hailed. Raiden
identified himself and Szin, and once verified, they were allowed on planet. As
the flyer descended, Szin watched the darkness of space fade into first clouds,
then lights from the surface.

Raiden maneuvered his way into the air traffic going into the capital city. The
bright lights of the city beckoned, but Szin closed his eyes, listening to the
music. His thoughts wandered back to the first time his parents brought him and
Raiden to the capital city. He might have only been ten at the time, but that
trip certainly left a lasting impression. It was also one of the first times he
truly understood how different he was. Even now he could hear Dad’s voice as
clear as a bell.

“Why do we have to do this?” Szin demanded once again as Dad ushered him
toward the flyer.

“You and your brother turned ten today,” Dad said for the fifth time in as many
minutes. “It’s when young are tattooed with the royal symbols, sweetie. That’s
why we’re going to Tah’Nar. They’ll match what your dabba and I have on our
necks. It's an honor to be tattooed. Our traditions only allow the best
warriors and royalty this privilege. After that, we’ll visit with Hamza. He’s
excited about seeing you both.”

Szin dragged his feet as he and Dad approached the flyer where his dabba and
Raiden waited. “Dad? Raiden says it hurts, really bad.”

“I’ve heard that it does, yes.” Dad ran his hand over Szin’s hair. “Your dabba
insisted I be given pain relief so I couldn’t feel anything. Oh, I forgot.
Here. I brought this just in case you get thirsty on the way.”

Szin took the bottle containing his favorite drink.

“Come on,” Raiden yelled. “By the gods, you are slow!”

“Shut up,” Szin mumbled as he climbed into the flyer and walked back to where
Raiden sat.

“You shut up,” Raiden hissed back.

Once everyone settled in, Raiden reached into Szin’s pocket and grabbed the
small machine that played music.

“Hey! Stop! I had it first.”

“I wanted to listen to the imuzic. I just downloaded some new music,” Raiden
complained.

“I remembered to bring it, so I get it first.” Szin plugged the imuzic in to
the flyer’s power source in the back of the flyer. “You have the comp.”

“But I want the imuzic,” Raiden whined.

“Tough,” Szin replied.

Raiden reached over and tried to pull it away from Szin, who wouldn’t let go. A
short, snarly argument broke out quickly.

“Stop it, you hair ball!” Szin yelled.

“You knew I wanted to listen to it on the way there.” Raiden growled as he
wrestled with Szin. “Give it to me!”

“That’s enough,” Keyno said loudly from the front seat. “Szin had it first, so
he gets it for now. I’ll tell you when it’s time to switch. And Szin? No name-calling
or hitting, I mean it. Raiden? Leave him alone.”

“Awww, Dabba, that’s—”

“Or Szin can keep it the whole way if you argue with me. Your choice, Raiden,”
Keyno said.

“By God, don’t make me come back there,” Dad threatened, turning around to face
them. Silence reigned in the back seat. Dad maintained eye contact for a moment
more, determined to make his point.

Satisfied, he turned back around. “I sound like my parents, Keyno. Those two
have turned me into my parents. Mom said I’d get repaid for all the fighting
Susan and I did as kids. She’s right,” Dad said softly.

“It’ll be okay, love. They’re just excited and nervous about the tattoos. Did
you fix Szin something to, ah… drink?”

“Yeah, I did. I feel bad about the pain blocker I slipped in it, but since he’s
so close to being human—”

“It would be bad for him, my mate.” Dabba reached for Dad’s hand. “He just
doesn’t have the tolerance Raiden has, and I don’t want him to hurt any more
than necessary. He’ll feel enough to be able to say he endured it.”

Dad glanced back at his young, who were now sharing the drink. “Damn,” he
whispered. “Raiden’s drinking Szin’s drink too. Great.”

About Me

Hey and welcome to my M/M blog!
My published name is M.A. Church, but I also wrote as nomoretears00. I'm a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now I spend my days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding my numerous shifters, or trying to tempt my country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it! When not writing, I'm exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching my beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if I'm not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and we have two grown children.